Sunners To Play In Isc Qualifier Softball

July 09, 1985|by KEITH GROLLER, The Morning Call

Last August, the Sunners and Ty Stofflet stole the show in the International Softball Congress World Tournament held in Allentown. Huge crowds followed Stofflet and Co. wherever they played and even though the Sunners didn't win the title, they provided the event's most memorable moments.

ISC officials didn't forget the impact the Sunners and Stofflet had on their tournament. They want them in this year's ISC World event, so much that they wrote letters to Sunners manager Rocky Santilli to convince him to enter his team in the ISC state qualifier this weekend.

Apparently, the ISC's efforts succeeded. After much deliberation, Santilli and the Sunners have decided to participate in the qualifier which will be held in the western Pennsylvania town of Schellsburg.

The decision to play in the qualifier means that doubleheaders slated for this Saturday and Sunday at Patriots Park against the Sheridan Inns from Boston have been postponed and rescheduled for later in the month.

"I got a couple of letters from the ISC, including one from the executive director, in which he said he couldn't understand why - with the outstanding team we have this year - we weren't entered in the ISC qualifier," said Santilli, whose team owns a 41-6 mark after sweeping the U.S. Maccabiah Games team Sunday.

"Having lost our sponsorship, I didn't think we should think about the ISC this year because it costs too much to enter. I'm still not sure whether or not we can come up with the funds to make it to the world tournament (held August 9-18 in Kimberly, Wisc.) should we qualify this weekend. We may still have to go around town and look for some help. We'd have a month to work on it."

Santilli said he explained the ISC situation to his players over the weekend and most of them said they wanted to play in the ISC.

"They said they wanted to go and said they would hook up with other teams if we decided not to enter," said Santilli. "Of course, I'd much rather have them represent the Sunners than some other team. So, we're going to give it a shot."

The Sunners are the heavy favorite in the qualifer, but they won't have it too easy. The six-team field will be filled with quality pitching.

Ski Brothers of Coopersburg will compete with long-time great Larry Bergh. May Brothers of Johnstown will have Rod Jarvis; Barry Parmer will pitch for the Middletown VFW, along with Jim Kauffman and Bill Streets, while Gibby Glessner will hurl for McLaughlin's of Somerset.

Not much is known about the Scottsdale All-Stars who will complete the field for the double-elimination event which will get underway Saturday morning and conclude late Sunday afternoonin Schellsburg, located about eight miles west of Bedford.

"No question, the addition of the Sunners makes it a very attractive event," said Dennis Doyle, an ISC district commissioner. "The people in the western part of the state have never seen Ty Stofflet and once they realize that he'll be here, I'm sure that they'll be a huge increase in fan interest."

Bob Walsh, the state's ISC commissioner, said that the addition of the Sunners "added a lot of character" to the ISC qualifier.

"The teams in the ISC want to compete against Ty," said Walsh. "They want to compete against the best. They know that by going against the best, they'll get better. They have a keen sense of competition."

As for the Sheridan Inns, Santilli said that he has rescheduled them for July 27 and 28.

"They (Sheridan) really wanted a change in the schedule anyway because they were just in Allentown this past weekend for the Patriots 4th of July tournament and they didn't want to have to come back in here again this weekend," said Santilli.

"We're also looking at rescheduling the All-American Bar in here over Labor Day weekend if it can be worked out with the Patriots."

All-American from St. Paul, Minn., postponed its scheduled games with the Sunners in June because of numerous injuries to its pitching staff.

SUNNER SHORTS - Directions to Schellsburg: Pa. Turnpike west to Bedford, take Route 30 west into Schellsburg . . . The Sunners and manager Rocky Santilli, in a gesture of goodwill, have extended an invitation to the Cedarbrook Home which would allow 20 members from the Home to be the guests of the team at two upcoming home games.

Through this past weekend's games, leadoff man Pete Zoppi continues to be the Sunners' top hitter with a .355 average. Zoppi is closely followed by cleanup man Chuck Prescott (.349) and Jim Brackin (.327).

Prescott leads the team in RBIs with 33 and doubles (9), while Jeff Seip's 11 home runs leads the club in that category. . . Ty Stofflet's pitching stats continue to amaze. The 43-year-old lefty has a record of 18-2, an ERA of 0.76, 13 shutouts, 234 strikeouts, and has given up just 16 earned runs in 147 innings. Dennis Amell hasn't done that bad either, with a 15-3 record and an ERA of 1.17.